MILLIONS of TV viewers will tonight watch a dramatic reconstruction of an arson attack which killed a Coventry mum and left her two daughters fighting for their lives....

MILLIONS of TV viewers will tonight watch a dramatic reconstruction of an arson attack which killed a Coventry mum and left her two daughters fighting for their lives.

The Crimewatch programme will feature this image of four men seen near Nasreen Akhtar?s home in Queen Mary?s Road, Foleshill, the night before the tragic fire.

Mother-of-two Mrs Akhtar died after the blaze at her home, which was started on the night of Tuesday, January 9.

Her two young daughters Bhaktwar, aged three, and Aysha, aged 18 months, were left critically ill in intensive care.

The night before, four white men were seen at the house. One of them knocked the door while another sat on the garden wall. Murder squad detectives believe they could hold the key to solving the crime.

The hard-hitting reconstruction also shows Mrs Akhtar waking up to the smell of smoke in the home and frantically shaking the two girls awake.

Senior West Midlands fire investigator David Brammeier tells how she then struggled downstairs, carrying the youngsters, and attempted to get out of the back door, which was locked.

He explains the fire would have been a ?total inferno? within a few minutes, and heavy, toxic smoke would have filled the house within 30 seconds.

The cameras pan around the shell of the house, showing blistered paint in the kitchen and heavy smoke damage.

Carrying the two youngsters down the stairs, Mr Brammeier said, would have meant Mrs Akhtar was working very hard and breathing in smoke and fumes.

He says: ?She was an extremely brave woman who died trying to save her children.?

Firefighters and paramedics found the mum huddled with the children in a ground floor bathroom.

All three were unconscious - Mrs Akhtar died in hospital as a result of her injuries, but the two girls survived.

The reconstruction also shows an interview with the nursery teacher of three-year-old Bhaktwar, known to her family as Zareen.

She talks of the close relationship between mother and daughter, and describes how the tot still asks for her mummy at nursery.

The girls are now being cared for full-time by father Mohammed Zareen, who was at a family wedding in Pakistan at the time of the blaze.

Det Insp Iain O?Brien, who has been working on the murder inquiry for four months, said even he had been shocked by how hard-hitting the reconstruction was.

He said he hoped it would jog people?s memories and lead to fresh information for his team of detectives.

Detectives still want to trace two white men seen near the home, kicking the door shortly before the fire started at midnight and the author of an anonymous letter sent to Chace Avenue police station shortly after the incident.

The team will work late tonight after the Crimewatch programme, with Urdu and Punjabi interpreters on hand.

Anyone with information can call the incident room on 024 7653 9160, the Urdu/ Punjabi hotline on 024 7653 9043, or the confidential Crimestoppers hotline on 0800 555 111.

A #5,000 reward has been offered by Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.